Asian shares inch lower as traders fret about the global economy
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan is down 0.1% as Chinese blue-chips slide 0.8% ahead of the release of trade data
Shanghai — Asian shares turned lower on Friday as trepidation ahead of the start of the US corporate earnings season and underlying anxiety over the global growth outlook eclipsed some reassuring US economic data. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last down 0.1%, having see-sawed within a tight range throughout the morning session Despite broad weakness in the region, with Chinese blue-chips down 0.8% ahead of the release of trade data, higher Chinese iron ore prices helped to push Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index up 0.7%. Japan’s Nikkei stock index gained 0.5%. Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets and Stockbroking in Sydney, said markets were in a “holding pattern” as they waited on Chinese trade data and the US earnings season. Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at GAIN Capital in Singapore, said a dovish shift by central banks, together with possible progress on a US-China trade deal and US President Donald Trump’s talking up of the ...
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